Identify The Problem: Roller Coasters are some of the most fun folks will ever experience in their lifetime. The drastic turns and wheels, as well as the high pitched screaming from all of the riders, Roller Coasters are always a delight. But besides all of the fun, scientists and engineers have to ensure that their rides are safe for everyone. They apply their knowledge of the physical world, so that they could design ideas to guarantee 100% safety when it comes to riding their gigantic coaster. We will be designing a Roller Coaster that includes all of these things, and will provide us a got education on physics and all of the different energies (1,1). Although, for our experiment we will only be designing paper made roller coasters, that …show more content…
Kinetic energy typically relates to the amount of motion an object would sustain or have, therefore Kinetic energy is dependent on these two factors: speed and mass (1,4). Potential energy is the amount of stored energy an object has based on its position or height. Therefore, the two factors that affect the Potential energy of an object are: height and weight. Objects with higher speed tend to have more mass, although mass is not necessarily dependant on the speed, therefore changing speeds would not affect it (1,5). In terms of Kinetic energy itself, objects with both high speed and mass would ensure a maximized Kinetic energy; therefore these two factors although not entirely dependant on each other do affect Kinetic energy (1,6). The main idea of all of this, is that we will be using alot of Physics and Motion in this experiment, as they are our main Scientific Concepts (1,7). Motion will be a huge factor when determining if we have built a successful coaster, we will use our knowledge of it to make sure we don’t make any mistakes, and we will get our marble from one end of the coaster to the
Every year an estimated 290 million people all over the world flock to amusement and theme parks to experience the thrills and excitement of the modern day roller coaster. (Boldurian 16). Now thousands of people a day can safely experience the G-forces that an astronaut or fighter pilot would experience in flight. "The Revolution" a roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia California gives riders an amazing 4.9 Gs; that is 1.5 more than an astronaut at launch. (Boldurian 16). These G-forces create thrills and fear and excitement in all who ride them. But the truth is that there is no reason to fear. Roller Coasters are exceptionally safe. The mortality rate for roller coasters is one in 90 million, and most of the fatality occurred due to failure to follow safety guidelines. (Boldurian 17). But roller coasters have not always been this safe. One of the first coaster attractions was actually just a mine rail designed to bring coal to the base of the mountain (Lemelson-MIT Program). The attraction was a thirty minute ride, with speeds of more than one-hundred miles per hour. As time went on entrepreneurs in the late 1800's began creating “quick buck cheap thrill attractions.” These early coasters lacked safety for the sake of thrills. This changed when John A. Miller engineer and roller coaster designer began making coasters. John Miller held over 100 patents many of which were for roller coaster safety and functionality that are still used today (Lemelson-MIT Program). John Miller's inventions and improvements to the roller coaster make him the father of the modern roller coaster that we know today.
In this experiment we positioned a marble ball on a wooden roller coaster positioned on a physics stand in the sixth hole. Throughout the experiment, we used an electronic timer to record the time of the marble where it passed through the light beam of its clamp. We positioned the clamp at a certain point on the roller coaster and measured the distance from the marble to the clamp; the height of the clamp; and finally the time the ball traveled through the clamp. After we recorded these different figures we calculated the speed of the marble from the given distance traveled and the time. We repeated the step 14 times, then proceeded to graph the speed and the height. Next, we took the measurements of position of the clamp, height, and speed and calculated the potential energy, the kinetic energy, and the total energy. Total energy calculated as mentioned before. Potential energy is taking the mass (m) which is 28.1g times gravity (g) which is 9.8 m/s2 times the height. Kinetic energy is one-half times the mass (m) times velocity (v2). Finally we graphed the calculated kinetic, potential, and total energies of this experiment.
Rolling a Car down a Ramp Investigation PLANNING When planning my experiment, I will need to take into consideration. the following points: -Fair testing -Equipment -How many results will I get? -What range of variables I will experiment with I will be investigating, by varying the height of the summit of the ramp. is raised off the ground, if the average speed increases or decreases.
a roller coaster is moved only by the forces of inertia and gravity. The only exertion of energy
In 1961, the US Freedom Rides was quite a significant event that is still remembered by many Americans and African-Americans today. It was the time when racial discrimination and segregation had existed and has had an immense effect and impact on African-Americans. Yet, it had ended after a lot of hard work protesting, campaigning in different areas of America and thanks to some key events that had also helped along with these including the Birmingham Campaign and Martin Luther King Jr’s activism. This event of the United States however is a lot similar to events that had occurred in Australia at the time and is considered to be an inspiration to Aboriginal activism and protest in Australia. The event that took place for the Aboriginal activism
The purpose of Scientific Method Lab is to determine which variable mass or height will have the greatest impact on the speed of a sphere. The generalized purpose of this lab is to practice scientific method and to learn how to write lab procedures.
The objective of the experiment was to discover the effect of mass and radius on the centripetal force of a system and determine the mass of a hanging object using the discovered properties. Centripetal force is the culmination of multiple forces that act on a spinning system. By attaching a known mass and changing the radius on between a center post and the unknown mass, the unknown mass can be calculated. Likewise, if the inverse is tested, with a variable known mass and fixed radius, the unknown mass can be calculated.
Roller coasters come in all sizes and configurations. Roller coasters are designed to be intense machines that get the riders’ adrenaline pumping. Ever since my first roller coaster ride, I knew I was hooked. I cannot get enough of the thrilling sensation caused by these works of engineering. When people board these rides, they put their faith in the engineers who designed the rides and the people who maintain and operate the rides. In this paper, I will bring to your attention a specific instance when the operation of one of these coasters came into question and led to a very tragic incident. From this, I will look into the events leading up to the incident and evaluate the decisions made by the people involved.
Rollercoasters, the star of an amusement park and an achievement in physics, date back decades. In history there is no doubt that people created countless of amazing coasters. They could be record holders, they could do the impossible or they could inspire the design of many other rollercoasters. Nevertheless they are all made because of our knowledge of the laws of physics. Rollercoasters symbolize how we, throughout the years, can use this knowledge to our advantage. Rollercoasters is a way to express physical science while providing safe (if designed correctly) amusement to all.
The basic design of a roller coaster consists of a train like coaster that starts out at the bottom of the tallest hill of the ride. The train is then pulled up the hill and is pulled to the top of the hill. As the train is pulled from the bottom of the hill to the top of it, the trains' potential energy is converted onto kinetic energy. Potential energy is defined as "the energy of an object at a height h above some zero level as equal to the work done by the force of gravity"2 (139). Kinetic energy is the energy of "an object . . . because of its motion"2 (132). As the distance between the ground and the train of cars increases, the potential energy of the train increases as well.
The bus that took us to the Theme Park was huge, with room for a
Explanation: The height of the ramp affects the speed and distance the ball rolls because the higher the ramp, the more gravitational potential energy the ball has, which is then transferred to kinetic energy. The length of the ramp affects the gradient, which affects the speed and distance the ball rolls. The surface of the ramp and marble cause friction, which affects the speed and distance the ball rolls. The weight and size of the marble affect the gravitational potential energy and the amount of friction, which affects the speed and distance the ball rolls.
The main similarities and differences between potential and kinetic energy is that they both can be converted into each other's’ form, on the other hand they are opposites because kinetic energy is energy in motion while potential energy is energy that is stored and kinetic energy can be transferred meanwhile potential energy cannot. Even though these two types of energy have more differences than similarities they both are necessary factors that influential scientists across the world have had used to create the laws of
I have always been fascinated by carnival rides. It amazes me that average, ordinary people eagerly trade in the serenity of the ground for the chance to be tossed through the air like vegetables in a food processor. It amazes me that at some time in history someone thought that people would enjoy this, and that person invented what must have been the first of these terrifying machines. For me, it is precisely the thrill and excitement of having survived the ride that keeps me coming back for more.
This Expanded English Composition course has been a thrilling rollercoaster ride where I am filled with anticipation of when it will start, and excited when I conquered and survived it when the ride is over. This class has been exactly that. I felt as if this class would begin intense and calm down in the end or at least I would have a better understanding of English that I either forgot or did not understand. Through this course I know I have made continuous improvements in my writing English essays overall, and my grammar has improved drastically though I know that it still need more development. Last semester and especially this semester I have come to realize that I am not as horrible of a writer as I thought. Dr. Spear says that “[I] have a Cheerleader” style of writing which I have to agree with her about. This class opened my eyes to see how writing has so much to offer and everyone has their style of writing that can be incorporated to meet more than what is required. I feel I have achieved this so far so far and only took to improve more overtime.